This blog details some of my thoughts and aspirations relating to application packaging, compatibility and the ongoing management of applications on desktop, server and cloud platforms. I have a strong focus on the Windows desktop space, but as we progress into more and more cloud based application management, we will definitely see more posts on getting applications working
in the cloud.

Thursday, 21 January 2010

Windows 7 False God Modes

Paul Thurrott wrote a little while ago about the Windows 7 God Mode. Where "God Mode" is the ability to access all of the Control Panel applets through a single standard Windows 7 Shell folder. You can find his explanation here:

So, this Windows 7 feature is pretty simple; you add a new Folder with a special name to your desktop and you get access to all of the Windows 7 Control Panel applet functionality and features through a single Explorer interface - which is pretty cool.

Which got me thinking. Hey, this can't be that special… The name of the God Mode folder is just a GUID… So, I searched my Windows 7 local registry for that GUID and found the following;

Note: the full path to the this registry location is: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

So, nothing special here… Just a bunch of CLSID's and a reference to the Control Panel. Which means that this "God Mode" is just a "handle" to these GUIDS through the Windows Shell…

Meaning, that we should be able to get access to any Object that has a shell folder and Icon using the same trick…

So, we should be able to access the Windows 7 Sensor Control Panel Applet by creating a folder on my desktop with the name;

"Sensors.{E9950154-C418-419e-A90A-20C5287AE24B}"

And, then what about "Windows Slide Show Settings"?

Just create a folder with the name; Test.{E95A4861-D57A-4be1-AD0F-35267E261739}

And, because these GUID folders under the CLSID tree have registered Icons, you get the pretty pictures as well.